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' A. E. PIRKEY.

Flour MiN.v

Patented May 31. J859-.

N SATES PATEN ()FFICE.

ALEXANDER E. PIRKEY, OF BRADFORD, ILLINOIS.

MILL.

Specification of- Letters Patent No. 24,235, dated May 31, 1859..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER E. PIR- KEY, of Bradford, in the county of Stark and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Mill; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which Figure 1, represents a. side elevation of my mill, the crushing and grinding apparatus being represented in section. Fig. 2, is a horizontal section of the grinding shell.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of mills where the crushing and grinding are done by a square or polygonal piston which works into a suitable shell, and the invention consists in arranging a series of adjustable slides in the interior of the shell so that not only the corner pieces which serve as guides to the piston, but also those slides which constitute the grinding surface of the shell and which are opposite to the fiat sides of the piston, can be brought closer up to or farther from the piston, and that the same can be set according to the required fineness of the flour or meal, or that it can be used for crushing corn, and the shell is so arranged that not only the weight of the piston itself but also a certain arrangement of levers and wheels assists in facilitating the work.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A, represents a platform or the floor supporting the mill, and the shell B, is secured to a plate a, which is rigidly fastened to the platform A.

C, is the piston, the transverse section of which is of square or polygonal form, with its flat sides made rough in any desirable manner, but the corners are left smooth, and the piston is guided by the adjustable corner pieces 6, which are made to slide to and from the piston by means of screws 0, so that the piston is always guided to perfection in its up and down motion, and that any amount of wear may be made up without any trouble.

The grinding surface of the shell B, consists of a series of slides (Z, which correspond in number to the number of sides of the piston, and which can be moved to and from the piston by means of set screws 6, similar in every respect to the screws 0, which serve to move the corner pieces I), and these screws are attached to the slides by means of pins 7, working in necks g, in the end of the screws, so that the slides or corner pieces have to follow the action of the screws in bot-h directions.

Secured to the top of the shell B, is the hopper or cone box D, which narrows down toward the flat sides of the piston, as clearly represented in Fig. 1, so that the contents of the same are drawn down as the piston descends, and the piston is operated by a lever E, which connects with the piston by means of a link it, and which has its fulcrum on a pivot i, which is secured to the standard F, and the piston rod G, is guided by a suitable opening in the horizontal beam H. The lever E, is operated by an arm 3', which is secured to a cogwheel I, by means of an eccentric Wrist pin 70, and by the cogwheel I, is operated by means of a pinion J, and crank K, or by some other suitable motive power. The proportions of the wheels, and the manner in which the lever sufficient to crush corn or to facilitate the.

operation of grinding.

The operation is as follows. The piston is adjusted in the shell C, by means of the screws 0, so as to move up and down easily in the corner pieces Z), and the slides (Z, are brought up to the flat sides of the piston as close as necessary to insure the required fineness of the meal, and the grain or corn is placed into the box D, and the piston is set in motion. Any wear of the corners of the piston or of the corner pieces is easily made up by means of the screws 0, and if the meal or flour is to be coarser or finer, the grinding surface can easily be adjusted at any time without interrupting the operation by the set screws 6, and if one of the slides (Z, should become. injured by some hard substance mixed with the grain or corn, it is easy to replace the same independent of the restof the slides without going to the 'eiipehse of renovating the which receives its motion by means of a lever E, and. Wheels H and I, substantially in the manner and for the purpose specified. 10

ALEXANDER E. PIRKEY. Witnesses:

CHESTER WOODWARD, HARMON Whole grinding surface. 7

Vhat I claim as new and desire'tc secure by Letters Patent, is- V The Within described arrangement of the adjustable slides cl, and the corner pieces 6, to operate in combiiiatibn with the pistcii B, 

